


In Illness and In Health

by RainRomanoff



Series: Jazekiel Drabble Challenge [3]
Category: The Librarians (TV 2014)
Genre: Dorks in Love, Ezekiel is a nerd, Fluff, Jake is also a nerd, M/M, sick!fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-10
Updated: 2016-09-11
Packaged: 2018-08-14 04:54:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,221
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7999321
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RainRomanoff/pseuds/RainRomanoff
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Ezekiel is sick, a very concerned Jake coaxes him into letting him take him home, which has unexpected results. <br/>Based on the prompts "I'm sorry I yelled at you..." And "Ezekiel gets the flu and is super sick and Jake takes care of him"</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This is the third Drabble in the Jazekiel Drabble Challenge. This Drabble is based on the prompt "I'm sorry I yelled at you..." And "Ezekiel gets the flu and is super sick and Jake takes care of him"

When he wakes up, he feels as if he's underwater; he can barely breathe through his nose and his head and limbs feel as if they weigh a ton. He forces himself out of bed, pausing only to resist the urge to throw up. He dresses himself quickly and chugs half a bottle of cold medicine.

 _I can do this. I can make it through today_. Ezekiel reassures himself, trying not to throw up in his kitchen sink. He takes a deep breath, heaves a jacket on, and heads out. The rush of cold air from outside clears his sinuses a little, but not enough to make him appear fine. He coughs violently, tears springing to his eyes. He can only hope the others are out in the field today. He can not deal with Cassandra and Colonel Baird fussing over him. He's a librarian and librarians always have work to do. He can't just abandon his responsibilities because he's a little sick.

When he arrives at the Annex, he spots a flash of red and blond disappear through the back door, much to his relief. With Flynn probably on his own mission, that leaves Jenkins and Jake in the Annex with him, and neither are likely to care about his illness. And he's mostly fine with that.

Ezekiel abandons his jacket on the coat rack by the door to the Annex and checks the Library's security system, assuring that everything is still in order. He spends the next three and a half hours updating the security system, something that _should_ have taken him two hours at most. Feeling his headache worsen, he heads to the kitchen for some pain medicine. When he arrives, he surprisingly finds Jake making himself a grilled cheese.

"Hey Jones. You want one?" Jake asks, barely sparring a glance his way.

"Nah, I'm good. Thanks though." Ezekiel walks past Jake to the medicine cabinet next to the fridge. Upon hearing Ezekiel's congested voice, Jake frowns and turns to face him.

"You doing okay?" Ezekiel can almost feel Jake's scrutinizing gaze on him. He quickly swallows a pair of Advil before turning to face him.

"I'm fine." He lies. However, just then a violent coughing fit rakes his body for what seems like an eternity. A few minutes later, the coughing subsides, leaving Ezekiel gasping for breath. Concerned, Jake places a firm hand on his shoulder.

"I'm okay, I'm-" Ezekiel falls into another coughing fit and he grabs onto the counter behind him as stars begin to dance in front of his eyes. Jake scrambles to get a glass of water and pushes the glass into his hands. Ezekiel gladly grabs it and takes a long drink.

"Have you checked your temperature today?" Jake asks, eyebrows furrowed in concern. "And don't give me any of that "I'm fine" bullshit."

"No, I haven't checked my temperature." Ezekiel says, both surprised and irritated. He never expected him to care, so this is definitely a nice surprise. Jake merely reaches behind him and grabs a thermometer from the medicine cabinet. He places it in Ezekiel's mouth and when it beeps, he looks at it, a concerned expression clear on his face.

"You've got a low grade fever. 101.5 Fahrenheit." Ezekiel gives him a confused look.

"Could you use actual units?" Jake rolls his eyes.

"Your fever is 38.6 degrees Celsius." Jake says as he washes the thermometer in the sink. He places it back in its protective cover and puts it in his pocket.

"Did you take any medicine this morning?" Ezekiel nods.

"Yeah, like half a bottle of some liquid cold medicine." Jake raises an eyebrow at him. "What?"

"Did you seriously drink half a bottle?" Ezekiel nods, crossing his arms defensively. Jake immediately pulls out his cell and begins typing in a number. "Jesus, Jones."

"What are you doing?"

"I'm calling Jenkins." Ezekiel snatches his phone from his hands and hangs up. He can't have Jenkins thinking he can't handle a little cold. "What the hell was that for?!"

"I don't need Jenkins, I'm fine!" Ezekiel argues, even as he can feel his headache worsen. Jake frowns and takes his phone back. "Come on, man. Don't call him."

"Fine. On one condition, though." Ezekiel frowns and nods, encouraging him to continue. "You let me take you home and keep an eye on you."

"I can't go home! I have things to do, places to be!" Ezekiel exclaims, throwing his hands in the air in exasperation and once again ignoring his building headache. "I can't abandon my work just because I have a little cold!"

"Ezekiel, this doesn't look like a little cold!" Ezekiel flinches slightly as his headache momentarily intensifies, causing Jake to deflate immediately and his voice to soften. "I'm sorry I yelled at you. No one's going to think you're abandoning your work. You have a legitimate reason to not work today. You are really sick right now, sick enough to take a day or two off."

"Okay." Ezekiel meets Jake's eyes. "I'll let you take me home. Just keep your end of the deal."

"Okay, no Jenkins. I promise." He holds his right hand up as if he's taking an oath and draws an x shape over his heart. "I drove here today, so we can take my car to your place."

Ezekiel nods in agreement and follows Jake to his car, grabbing his jacket on his way out. When they step outside, he falls into another coughing fit and he grabs onto Jake for support. After the coughing fit is over, Jake walks ahead to unlock his car. To his surprise, he walks up to a black mustang who he had assumed belonged to Colonel Baird. Jake holds the passenger door open for him and he climbs in, muttering a "thanks." The ride to his apartment is mostly silent, with the exception of when Ezekiel was giving Jake directions. Thankfully, his building has an elevator and they ride it to the third floor. It takes Ezekiel a couple of minutes to get the door open as he's feeling light-headed.

"Here we are. Home sweet home." Ezekiel kicks off his shoes by the door and hangs his jacket on the hook on the wall. He then proceeds to collapse face down on his couch. Jake closes the door behind him and takes off his shoes and coat. The apartment is much more bare that he expected. Other than the red couch in the living room, there's a TV, a DVD player, and a couple of game consoles resting on a sturdy TV stand with several drawers. A breakfast bar separates the living room from a decent sized kitchen that looks like it hasn't been used in months. A round table made of a light colored wood with two matching chairs sits in the center. Next to the kitchen is a hallway that he assumes leads to the bathroom and bedroom.

"You should probably eat something." Jake suggests, making his way into the kitchen.

"Not hungry."

"Doesn't matter, you still have to eat. Come sit at the table." Ezekiel begrudgingly obeys. Jake begins to heat a chicken noodle soup on the stove and starts making a grilled cheese sandwich. A silence falls between them.

"Why are you doing this?" Ezekiel asks, interrupting the silences after a while.

"Because I care about you."

"Yeah, right." Ezekiel scoffs.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Jake frowns, sparring a glance at Ezekiel over his shoulder.

"You haven't cared before. Why would you suddenly care now?" Jake turns off the heat on the soup and slides the grilled cheese sandwich onto a plate before turning to look at him.

"I do care. I've always cared, Jones."

"Well you have a really strange way of showing it." Ezekiel says bitterly.

"And what's _that_ supposed to mean?" Jake crosses his arms, losing patience with him.

"Well, you've never exactly been nice to me before. You're constantly throwing snide comments at me." Jake casts his eyes downward and turns around to pour the soup in a bowl. He places the bowl and plate infront of him and sits across from him.

"I'm sorry, I just-" He pauses, thinking of a way to best phrase what he's thinking. "I've never been good at showing affection. I really do care about you, Ezekiel. I'm sorry I hurt you."

"It's alright." Ezekiel picks up the spoon and stirs his soup absentmindedly. He shrugs.

"You're here now and that's what counts."

"I am. Eat up. You need to eat to get better." Ezekiel mutters "bossy" under his breath and Jake laughs. He makes sure he eats all of his soup and sandwich before taking his plate and placing it in the sink.

"Which one's your medicine cabinet?" Jake asks.

"By the fridge." He pulls the cabinet open, and begins riffling through it.

"Which one of these did you take and at what time?" He holds up two cold medicine bottles, one is blue and the other orange. Both are half empty.

"The orange one around 8 this morning." Jake places the blue medicine back in the cabinet and turn the orange one over to read it. Not finding the information he needs on the bottle, he pulls out his phone and begins searching something on it.

"Was this completely full this morning?" Ezekiel nods. "You should be fine, I think." He says, mostly reassuring himself.

"Okay. Thanks for the food. It was good."

"No problem. I want to check you temperature again in about an hour. What do you want to do now?" Ezekiel shrugs.

"Wanna watch TV or something? I think there's a Sharknado marathon on right now."

"Sharknado?" Jake asks, tilting his head in confusion. Ezekiel loves it when he does that.

"You haven't seen Sharknado?!" Ezekiel asks incredulously. Jake shakes his head no. "Come on, the first movie should be, like, 15 minutes in."

Ezekiel stands quickly and pauses, steadying himself by placing a hand on the table. In an instant, Jake is infront of him, placing a hand on his elbow to steady him. Ezekiel places the same hand on his forearm.

"Ezekiel? What's wrong?" Jake asks, his voice laced with concern. Ezekiel closes his eyes and takes in a a shaky breath.

"Nothing, I'm fine. Just a little dizzy, is all." Once the floor beneath his feet stops swaying, he opens his eyes and finds Jake staring at him in concern.

"I'm fine, I promise. Let's go watch that movie." Ezekiel puts on his best grin and walks over to couch with Jake at his elbow the entire time. He collapses on the center of the couch and pulls a cushion to his chest. Jake stands awkwardly near by.

"Come on, Cowboy. I don't bite." He pats the seat next to him. Jake sits so that their shoulders are touching and Ezekiel turns on the TV and flips it to the right channel. Around halfway into the first movie, Jake decides to make a subtle move so that Ezekiel can reject his advances easily if he wanted. Eventually, he yawns and drapes both arms on the back of the couch, an action that does not go unnoticed by Ezekiel. Ezekiel blushes and in a moment of confidence, he leans into Jake, his cheeks burning red. Pleased with the result, Jake drapes his arm across Ezekiel's shoulders and holds him close, a light blush dusting his cheeks.

 


	2. Doing the Dishes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things get interesting when they do the dishes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I know this was only supposed to be a drabble, but I got REALLY carried away with this one. This is my longest work to date and I'm really proud of it. I hope you like it as much as I do.

When dinner finally rolls around, Ezekiel has regained his appetite and is feeling much better. He tries to help Jake in the kitchen, but he refuses, going on about how he "should be resting" and how he "is never going to get better if he keeps over exerting him self."

"You really don't have to do this, you know." Ezekiel tells him, feeling guilty about not helping with dinner.

"I know. I really want to though." Jake replies nonchalantly. A warmth spreads across Ezekiel's chest at his words. He watches Jake prepare a couple of burgers with homemade fries in _his_ kitchen. With his boots and jacket next to his as if they belong there. As if he _lives_ with him.

_It sure would be nice if he did._ Ezekiel freezes at the thought. He's getting ahead of himself. They haven't talked about what happened on the couch, so nothing is official yet. As he snaps himself out his thoughts, Jake places a beautiful plate of food and glass of water in front of him before sitting across from him. Ezekiel immediately digs in, making a sound of pleasure that makes the tips of Jake's ears turn pink.

"That good, huh?" Jake asks with a grin on his face, clearly amused. Ezekiel nods and swallows before speaking.

"Literally _the_ best burger I've ever had. And that's saying something because I've had a lot of burgers. Where did you even learn to cook like this?" The grin on Jake's face falters for a moment.

"My mom taught me. She passed away the week before my eighteenth birthday." Jake replies with a shrug. Ezekiel stops eating.

"What was her name?" He questions. "If you don't mind me asking."

"No, it's okay. Her name was Mary." Jake gets a faraway look in his eye as he continues. "I remember cooking chili for the first time with her. I was around 9 or 10 years old. She got me a stool to stand on so that I could reach over the pot and stir it while she added things and explained what they were and how they impacted the flavor."

"She would answer all of my questions, no matter how silly, with the utmost patience." Jake looks down at his plate with a bittersweet smile on his face.

"She sounds wonderful." Is all that Ezekiel can think to say.

"She really was." Jake pulls himself out of the memories of his mother and focuses on Ezekiel again. "So about those Sharknado movies, when they were making the first one, were they trying to be serious?"

"Hm, I don't think so. I think that with the movie Tremors they realized that people liked movies that are ridiculous and far-fetched. Then they made four sequels to Tremors and started making movies like Ice Twisters and Lavalantula." Jake looks impressed by his knowledge of crappy syfy channel movies.

"I didn't know there were so many of them. You definitely have to show me Tremors. I want to see the movie that started it all." Jake laughs.

"Like a date?" Ezekiel asks hesitantly, afraid that he misread what happened on the couch.

"Yeah. If you want it to be a date?" Jake questions. Ezekiel nods immediately.

"I'd like that. Just not as a first date, though." He pops a fry in his mouth. "I'd like to take you somewhere nice for our first date."

"Okay, yeah. I have all five of the Tremors movies on DVD so we can watch them whenever." He takes another bite from his burger, the corner of his lips twitching upwards as he chews. Butterflies flutter in his stomach from the casual way they discuss their first date. After they've finished eating dinner, Jake places their dishes next to the sink and begins to fill it with soapy water. He rolls up the sleeves of his plaid shirt and Ezekiel most definitely does _not_ stare.

"You made dinner, let me at least do the dishes." Ezekiel grabs the sponge before Jake can grab it.

"I'll let you _dry_ the dishes." Jake holds his hand out for the sponge. Ezekiel sighs and rolls his eyes.

"Fine." He hands Jake the sponge and grabs a towel, standing next to him. Jake hands him the first plate and begins drying it. As he puts the plate down on the counter, water and suds hit his face.

"Whoops, my bad. I am so-" Jake yelps and jumps about a foot in the air. Ezekiel had spun the towel in on itself and snapped it at him. Jake gapes at him in surprise.

"Did you just...?" Ezekiel shrugs, a smug grin creeping across his face.

"Maybe I did. Maybe I didn't." In one swift movement, Jake wraps an arm around Ezekiel's waist and pulls him towards him so that his back is flush against his chest. Before Ezekiel has time to protest, Jake scoops up some water and suds from the sink and smothers it in his hair. Ezekiel shivers and begins to struggle against him so he wraps his other arm around his waist. Ezekiel reaches out towards the sink and uses both hands to scoop up water. He turns around in Jake's arms and releases the water over Jake's head. He shivers at the cold water and loosens his grip on Ezekiel, who seizes the oppurtunity to break out of his arms. He grabs the towel he was using earlier and runs around the table so that they're standing at opposite sides.

"Oh, you are so on, Ezekiel Jones." Jake runs a hand through his wet hair (which Ezekiel does _not_ find attractive, AT ALL). Ezekiel makes a break for the couch, but he is slower than usual in his sick state. Jake catches him easily, but his momentum sends the both of them stumbling over the back of the couch. Jake lands on his back and Ezekiel lands on top of him. Jake's hand lingers on Ezekiel's waist as he pushes himself up, hands on either side of Jake's head.

"Does this mean I win?" Jake asks, a smug grin on his face. Ezekiel licks his lips, enjoying the way Jake is looking up at him with his hair wet and ruffled.

"Actually, I think I have the advantage right now." Jake's gaze flickers to Ezekiel's lips. He laughs lightly, his breath tickling Ezekiel's skin. Ezekiel resists the urge to shiver.

"I guess you do." Jake smiles.

"Can I kiss you?" Ezekiel asks, a blush creeping across his cheeks.

"Yes." Jake breathes, a blush creeping across his cheeks as well. Ezekiel leans down slowly and presses a gentle kiss to Jake's lips. Jake tightens his grip on Ezekiel's waist, feeling as though he's in a dream. Ezekiel's heart pounds in his ears as he can feel Jake pulling him closer. When Ezekiel pulls away for air, Jake follows him, wanting the kiss to last longer. He whines slightly, wanting, no _needing_ more of Ezekiel.

"That was..." Ezekiel trails off, struggling to find the right word. "Amazing."

Jake trails his fingers up and down Ezekiel's sides, smile widening when he shivers.

"Kiss me again." Jake leans up, hoping for another kiss, but Ezekiel stops him with a finger on his lips.

"I'll kiss you one more time after we finish the dishes. I don't want to get you sick." Ezekiel stands, earning another whine from Jake. He sits up and resists the urge to pull Ezekiel back to the couch.

"I wouldn't mind getting sick if it meant a couple more kisses from you." Ezekiel laughs at his sappy comment.

"Fine. Just don't blame me when you get sick." Ezekiel comments, heading to the kitchen. Jake springs up and follows him.

Sure enough, a week later Jake wakes up sick with whatever Ezekiel had. However, when Ezekiel comes over to take care of him, Jake doesn't regret kissing him one bit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! If you have any questions or comments, please do not hesitate to leave a comment.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! If you have any questions or comments, please do not hesitate to leave a comment.


End file.
